Can never get to sleep quickly

Post Reply New Topic

Does anyone else have trouble getting to sleep? As a kid I would always lay in bed thinking for a few hours before I finally drifted off to sleep, my mom has said I would never nap during the day as a baby/toddler and one of my earliest memories is me refusing nap time at a daycare centre. As an adult I drink alot of coffee, but even without caffeine I still have trouble calming down for the night. I once ran at least 10KM on 3-5 sleep and I still was up late.

I always have and probably always will. I work an alternating shift cycle, 12 hour days then 12 hour nights and I find sleeping during the day much easier than sleeping during the night. Sometimes it is serious worries that go through my mind, sometimes it is trivial things, like the laundry or groceries that is going through my mind, but sometimes my mind just will not turn off. I can not sleep in silence either. I used to sleep with radio phone ins on in the background, it was soft and easy to drift off to people talking but the politics, just well, I won't go there but it annoys me, riles me up. I now sleep with youtube or netflix playing in the background but for what ever reason, I just can not sleep to silence. I feel uneasy in silence, I find my mind wont ever switch off when I try and sleep in silence. Drinking helps but it is not healthy, and I may drift off faster after drinking, but I do not get a good nights sleep with it. And I do not want to get into the stage where I am medicating with drink again, I want drinking to remain fun and social and not a crutch. No matter how hard life gets, or down I get, I refuse to let destructive behaviour back into my life. I have tried Valerian and Melatonin with no real noticeable results but they work for a lot of people, especially Melatonin. I do not know what to suggest to make things better for you, for us. I am open to suggestions but I am kind of resigned to the fact that this will be a problem that I will have my whole life, that I will just have to deal with and get on with it.

Sort of, when I was young I couldn't nap but I could sure fall asleep quick at bed time, now I can't seem to fall asleep at anytime.

Avoid bright lights and avoid using electronic devices like tv or phone an hour before bed. You can control when you go to bed and when you wake up but not when you fall asleep. Focus on waking up and getting out of bed at the same time every day and go to bed at the same time regardless of fatigue and you will find it easier to fall asleep within a week.